Christy Lefteri

Some children play with toys on a mat in the corner of the room.

I find Afra on our bed again

There is an expression on her face I recognise from years ago, and it makes my sadness feel like something palpable, like a pulse, but it makes me afraid too, afraid of fate and chance, and hurt and harm, of the randomness of pain, how life can take everything from you all at once.

she can’t get rid of the dampness and the mould and the smell of terrible journeys filled with fear

this is the first time that she has agreed to venture out of our bedroom, to allow herself in some small way to be part of the world

Her unspoken words had opened a chasm, and from that place images came and went like dreams

I WAKE UP WITH AFRA’S HAND resting on my chest. I can feel her fingers on mine, but there is also something else. I re